Current electrostatographic devices such as copying machines or electronic printing machines are typically capable of counting pages. For customer records or for billing purposes, these devices include accounting mechanisms for computing the number of pages that are printed. In addition to the copy count, these devices may further acquire other information for billing purposes such as measurements of the actual use of a wide range of system services, including binding, scanning, stapling, stitching, shrink wrapping, etc. Further, the paper and toner consumption can be monitored. This information can then be used when generating a bill for the use of the device.
A conventional billing process of such an electrostatographic device begins by the customer reading the meter count for the service or services being billed. The customer then sends a hard copy document to the billing service that shows the current meter reading for the services to be billed. Alternatively, the customer may transmit the data such as by using a telephone or email. The billing service generates a hardcopy bill based upon the reported meter count. The generated hardcopy bill is then sent back to the customer and the customer can then authorize payment of the hardcopy. Once the customer authorizes payment of the bill, payment is effected, for instance by sending a check or an authorization to debit from his account, to the billing service.
Another known billing process differs from the process discussed above in that the customer commands the electrostatographic device to transmit service usage information to the billing service electronically. Accordingly, the electrostatographic device accesses a meter module and transmits data indicative of the usage of the electrostatographic services to the billing service. The billing service then generates a bill based on the received information and either sends the bill to the customer electronically or by hard copy.
In both of the above processes, however, the customer typically performs a reconciliation of the bill from the billing service with the meter reading from the electrostatographic device. This is accomplished by first determining what meter reading was sent to the billing service. To this end, when the customer transmits the meter reading to, or causes the meter readings to be transmitted to, the billing service, the customer typically writes the meter readings into a notebook and then transfers the meter readings to a spreadsheet. Accordingly, when the ensuing bill arrives, the customer accesses the notebook or spreadsheet and obtains the meter reading that was sent to the billing service. The meter reading that was sent may then be compared with the meter reading shown on the bill (the billed meter reading). The customer then determines what service credits are shown on the bill and applies these credits to the meter reading to determine if the bill correctly reflects the amount due to the billing service.
Obviously, such manual bill reconciliation may not be overly burdensome when a single electrostatic device of limited functionality is the sole device to be reconciled. The process quickly becomes complex and burdensome, however, when multiple services are possible on hundreds or even thousands of metered devices. The complexity of the problem is further exacerbated in situations where multiple parties are to be billed for each of the devices.